Post Now: January 9, 2011 - January 15, 2011

A group of 53 beauty queens came to Sin City hoping to become the next Miss America on Saturday night, but 38 were stopped before they could change into swimsuits. Just 12 contestants remained in the hunt for a $50,000...

A possible plea bargain is in the works for a Stuarts Draft man facing a federal murder charge in the shooting death of a man at a Blue Ridge Parkway overlook. Ralph Leon Jackson had been scheduled for trial...

Good afternoon. Lots going on in the D.C. area blogosphere today. We've got more posts about community service opportunities on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as well as a charity that's looking for gently used baby clothing. Hope to send...

UPDATE: The 81-year-old man struck Friday morning while crossing the tracks to catch a commuter train in Gaithersburg has been identified as James Thomas Clemons. Montgomery County police say Clemons, of the 400 block of Russell Avenue in Gaithersburg, was...

Are you part of a stepfamily? Four of 10 Americans are. If you're one of them, we'd like to talk to you and learn more about your experiences, challenges, expectations, terminology and more. Please contact reporter Carol Morello via e-mail...

George Washington University is launching an online college preparatory high school that will be run by Herndon-based K12 Inc., The Washington Business Journal reports. The private school, which will offer admission to students in the U.S. and abroad, will be...

The average single-family homeowner in Arlington County will see an increase in their property taxes. Arlington’s 2011 property value assessments are up 6.3 percent, almost eliminating last year's decline of 7.2 percent, said county finance gurus.

First Metro and now Gaithersburg? Faced with a looming budget deficit, Gaithersburg officials are considering selling naming rights to some city facilities and offering corporate sponsors the chance to sponsor city events, NBC 4 reports. City leaders say they won't...

The state of Maryland has filed a $4 million lawsuit against the federal government over the 2008 crash of a state police helicopter that killed four people. The state claims two air traffic controllers failed to respond adequately to the...

Good morning. It's Friday at last, and many of you get a bonus day off on Monday because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is a federal holiday. We've got plenty of headlines today -- new names surfacing in the race for the at-large seat on the D.C. Council and word that Maryland may crack down on utility companies so they'll be better about restoring power when the lights go off.

Race to the Top, escaped inmate, Museum of Censored Art. Here's our morning collection of some of the top headlines from other news sources in D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Come back to PostLocal.com for updates on all the top headlines of the day.

WRC-TV (Channel 4) is reporting that one person was killed late Thursday in a double-shooting incident in Manassas. The other person was injured but survived. The television station said it appeared that the two people involved in the shooting fired...

Update, 11:44 p.m.: A man who was locked in a standoff with police in Calvert County was taken into custody late Thursday night after police used tear gas to force the man from his home in Lusby, the county...

The Virginia Board of Education on Thursday withdrew its approval of two elementary school history textbooks, which a panel of historians found to have dozens of errors. The Washington Post reported in October that "Our Virginia, Past and Present" a...

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's flu monitoring and surveillance system is reporting a dramatic rise in the number of flu cases across the state over the last two weeks. The department's flu tracking system shows an increase...

UPDATE: Howard County Animal Control officials said they removed an additional 14 rabbits Thursday from a home in Columbia, a day after taking 64 from the residence. The total number removed is now 78. The Associated Press reported that the...

Potomac Mills mall General Manager Mike Sullivan said the Woodbridge outlet shopping center will be reducing the number of commuter spaces in the roughly 1,000-space lot it provides down to 275 spaces Feb 14. Sullivan said the reduction is needed to make way for new commercial development.

UPDATE: Frederick County authorities are identifying the victims of a fatal domestic disturbance near Adamstown. Sheriff’s Cpl. Jennifer Bailey says investigators believe 26-year-old John Ming Lee, armed with a rifle or shotgun, wounded his mother and sister before apparently shooting...

Good afternoon. Monday is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day -- a federal holiday. Sure, some folks will take the extra day to sleep in or run some errands, but others have made it a tradition to participate in a community...

United Van Lines, America's largest moving and relocation company, has ranked Washington D.C. as the most popular place to move in 2010, NBC reported today.
UVL has bestowed upon the District the dubious title of being “highest inbound” city, with 64.3 percent of people moving in rather than out.

The Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department's hazardous materials team has been called to a federal mail facility in Capitol Heights to help investigators probe a suspicious package, said Mark Brady, a fire department spokesman.

Two stone carvings are being created in the Human Rights Porch of the National Cathedral depicting civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks and Mother Teresa, NBC 4 reports. Stonecarver Sean Callahan is working on the depictions that were sculpted by North...

Baltimore police say a man dressed as a woman has been impersonating an officer and conducting traffic stops. The most recent bogus stop was on Sunday, when police say the man stopped a woman and made off with her driver’s...

Frederick County chemistry teacher Michelle Shearer was named one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year, the Frederick News-Post reports. Shearer, who teaches at Urbana High School, will compete with teachers from Florida, Illinois and Montana for the...

District property owners who don't clear snow from sidewalks around their property could be ticketed under a bill being considered by the D.C. Council, the Washington Examiner reports. The proposed legislation would allow officials to write tickets of at least...

A school bus was involved in a crash in the 4700 block of South Dakota Avenue NE at 9 a.m., according to the D.C. Fire department. Three adults were hurt, one with serious injuries. No children were on the bus....

A dog may be the reason a family escaped from a fire that consumed their Fort Washington home, ABC 7 reports. A neighbor told ABC 7 that her dog alerted her that the neighbor's home was engulfed in flames. The...

Good morning. We'll see lots of sun today, but sadly that doesn't mean we'll be basking in the warmth of its rays. The Capital Weather Gang says it will be temperatures will be in the mid-to-low 30s. But take heart: on this day in 1912 the high was 8 degrees and the low was 13 below. So it could be worse -- a lot worse. The weekend should be fairly clear. Our next chance for snow will be Tuesday -- and even then, CWG says it looks like it will more likely that we'll get sleet and rain.

A new name for Pennsylvania Ave., Discovery channel shooting fallout, an arena in Montgomery County. Here's our morning collection of some of the top headlines from other news sources in D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Come back to PostLocal.com for updates on all the top headlines of the day.

A man was found shot in the head in the hallway of a Greenbelt apartment building Wednesday evening, Greenbelt police said. A spokeswoman for the city police department said officers responding about 7:20 p.m. to a report of a...

Update:William O. Lockridge, a longtime Ward 8 political activist and education advocate who is a sitting member of the DC. State Board of Education, died Wednesday evening at George Washington University Hospital. He was 63. Natalie Williams, a spokeswoman...

Update, 5:35 p.m.: Jennifer Gavin, a Library of Congress spokeswoman, says the Madison Building was declared safe to reoccupy at 4:48 p.m. The cause of the smoke and a burning odor was determined to be a mechanical failure that sent...

Arlington school officials decided Wednesday to pull a textbook in which historians have found dozens of errors. "Based upon the recent information about the number and scope of errors identified in the Grade 4 Social Studies textbook, Our Virginia:...

The Prince George's County superintendent of schools has decided not to close any elementary schools in the Bowie area, an action school officials were considering so they could continue with plans to open a state-of-the-art school in the planned community of Fairwood.

Good afternoon. We're halfway through the week. The snow we thought we'd be stuck shoveling instead headed north. And Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- a federal holiday celebrating the birthday of the slain civil rights leader. Later...

Federal officials told D.C. last year the Constitution prohibits the federal government from paying taxes levied by state and local governments. Stormwater runoff is the fastest growing source of pollution in the Chesapeake watershed and the federal government is a major landowner in the region.

Updated 1 p.m., Jan. 13 Black Squirrel owner Tom Knott has responded to a Twitter backlash about a blog post on his restaurant's website.In an e-mail to The Post, he wrote that the blog post "has taken on a life...

With casinos in Cecil County and on the Eastern Shore up and running, investors are lining up for a chance at potentially lucrative slots licenses in Baltimore and beyond, The Baltimore Sun reports. At least two groups, one from Canada...

The Virginia Historical Society is preparing a major exhibit on the Civil War, featuring more than 200 objects and 17 audiovisual programs. Called "An American Turning Point: The Civil War in Virginia," the exhibit opens in February and runs through...

Alcohol sales have increased in Montgomery County officials said Monday, The Gazette reports. Sales in the 24 county-owned stores of beer, wine and liquor totaled $14.5 million in December — 14 percent higher than in December 2009, county officials said....

Good morning. It's Wednesday and we have a lot of major stories to report. Today is the first anniversary of the quake in Haiti and we have a full package of stories examining what has happened in the island nation over the last 12 months and what more needs to be done.

Ride On complaints, drugs on a cruise ship, Maryland slots. Here's our morning collection of some of the top headlines from other news sources in D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Come back to PostLocal.com for updates on all the top headlines of the day.

Frederick County Fire and Rescue officials said Tuesday afternoon that they have rescued a person who was trapped in a grain tank, WFMD AM 930 reports. About 15 pieces of apparatus were dispatched to Southern States on West Elizabeth Street...

Good afternoon. Snow fell, schools closed early and many more hardened snow veterans grumbled about what wimps we are in the D.C. region. Yes, we are, but after last year's spectacle that was "Snowmageddon" -- do you blame us for...

D.C. Fire and EMS officials are reporting an accident northbound in the 3rd Street Tunnel involving a van carrying special needs passengers. Officials said they are evaluating seven people. Additional EMS units have been called to the scene. Traffic delays...

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced Tuesday that District officials will receive more than $2.5 million more in federal funds for cleanup related to the severe storm that crippled the city last February. To date, more than $11.1 million has...

A Virginia town is seeking the federal government's help in its war against 500 vultures who have taken up residence in city neighborhoods, reports the News Leader. Officials in Staunton say officials from the United States Department of Agriculture have...

Baltimore police have made an arrest in the slaying of a U.S. Marine who was shot to death while partying with fellow Marines at an after-hours club.
Sgt. Chase Love was shot several times in July on the dance floor of the Queen's Hookah Lounge and Club. Love was 26 years old and a native of New Orleans.

D.C. Police are investigating an incident at Georgetown University in which an 18-year-old student apparently fell from a tall building, WUSA reports. Officials say police were alerted to the incident around 1:43 Tuesday morning. Officers arrived at at 37th and...

Westboro Baptist Church, Garth Brooks, Michelle Rhee: Here's our morning collection of some of the top headlines from other news sources in D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Come back to PostLocal.com for updates on all the top headlines of the day.

Good morning. For all you folks hoping for a snow day, sorry to disappoint. We'll get a healthy dose of the white stuff -- but it won't start falling until later this afternoon (just in time for the evening commute). Lots of headlines ahead of us this morning, so let's get to it.

Update, 10:30 p.m.: Investigators believe that the suspects involved in Monday night's double stabbing in Prince George's County might have been gang members who attacked their victims because they mistakenly believed they were rivals, the department's public affairs commander...

A teenager from Southeast Washington was killed Friday and a suspect in the death was arrested two days later, D.C. police said. They said Ricardo Vondell Minger, 17, of First Street SE, was found fatally shot Friday night in...

Good afternoon.It's been a grim start to 2011, both locally and nationally. Prince George's County officials are investigating their ninth slaying since the start of the new year. Maryland and D.C. officials had to contend with three incendiary parcels that...

A Maryland panel has issued its final report with 16 recommendations on how to implement federal health care reform in the state. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who co-chairs the panel, said Monday he will lead efforts in the upcoming legislative...

UPDATE: The wife of a key White House aide was found dead early Monday in a sport-utility vehicle that was heavily damaged by fire in the garage of the couple's Capitol Hill home, sources familiar with the incident said. The...

Almost 1,400 Maryland state employees have applied for a voluntary buyout program, according to Gov. Martin O'Malley's office, reports John Wagner on the Maryland Politics blog. O'Malley invited state workers last month to participate in the "voluntary separation program" as...

D.C. officials opened the District's fifth dog park on Arkansas Avenue in the District on Saturday, WTOP reported. The Friends of 16th Street Heights Parks will be responsible for opening and closing the park -- dubbed the Upshur Dog Park,...

President Obama will observe a moment of silence for the Arizona shooting victims Monday morning, and he called on all Americans to do so at the same time in a show of national unity. In a Sunday statement issued by...

Updated: 10:20 a.m. Capitol South Metro has reopened. FBI Washington Field Office spokeswoman Lindsay Godwin said there is no threat. 9:52 a.m. Metro says the Capitol South station is closed due to a suspicious package outside. Trains are passing through...

Good morning. It's expected to be a low-key week on The Hill this week, in the aftermath of Saturday's shooting at a constituent event held by Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who continues to fight for her life after being shot in the head.

A retreat in Prince George's, VRE goes wireless, DYRS troubles, a new D.C. dog park and more. Here's our morning collection of some of the top headlines from other news sources in D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Come back to PostLocal.com for updates on all the top headlines of the day.